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Marly Swick's powerful new novel is just out from Little, Brown.
Evening News is the story of a tragic family
accident and its consequences:
It must seem odd to him how you got punished for the minor
infractions. A "time out" for talking back. No Popsicle
for coming home late. No TV for breaking your sister's Busy Box. But for
the major crimes, there was no punishment. How much "time out" for shooting
your little sister?
This novel, about the fragility and strength of families, may be Swick's
best yet.
Advance word suggests that Marly has maintained her place as
her generation's Alice Munro.
Of the novel's controversial subject, the author has this to say:
I was just drawn to the emotional double bind of the parents, the mother
especially. I just couldn't
imagine how you would cope with all the conflicting emotions that you
would be feeling, trying to protect your child who had actually shot
the other one from feeling more traumatized and ruining the rest of
that child's life. How do you just put aside your grief, and, I would
imagine, anger too? I was trying to explore those contradictory emotions
and how they might work themselves out. I thought you'd feel that no matter
what you did, you were betraying someone. (quoted in the Denver Post)
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